Mechanism for the manufacture of comfortables, quilts, and the like



April 23 1942 J. R. JoHNsoN 2,281,308

MEGHANISM FOR THE MAUFACTRE OF COMFORTABLES, QUILTS, AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 15, 1941 v y 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 l l. I 1 l INVEN-ron.

*N Hi Juil IFI' i' BY jm:

ATTORNEY.

April 28," 1942. J. R. JoHNsoN 2,231,308 MECHANISM FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF COMFORTBLES, QUILTS, AND THE LIKE Fiied Jan. 15, 1941 s sheets-sheet 2 ATTORNEY.

April 28, 1942. J. R. JoHNsN 2,231,308

MECHANISM FOR THE MANUFAGTURE OF COMFORTABLES, QUILTS, AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 15, 1941 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Elllll i|l|\IlllllllllllIllllllllllllllllllliIlIHIIlllIIIHIIIIll"llllllllllllllllllli f N @a Il w m L unllunmmpm-E l v @un r si ummm QQ lNvENToR N BY fifi-fw,

ATTORNEY.

April 28, 1942. J. R. JOHNSON AND THE LIKE QUI-LTS,

MECHANISM FOR THE MANUFACTURE 0F CGMFORTABLES Filed Jan. l5, 1941 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEY;

April 28, 1942. 1 R, JOHNSQN MECHANISM FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CGMFORTABLES, QUILTS, AND THE LIKE` Filed Jan. 15, 1941 6 SheeLS-Sheek 5 lNvEN'roR, A/W @www ATTORNEY,

J. R. JOHNSON Amal z8, 1942.,

MECHANISM FOR THE MANUFCTURE OF COMFORTABLES, QUILTS, AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. l5, 1941 6 Sl'xeets-Sheefl 6 INVENTOR,

ATTORNEYl Patented rApr. 28, 1942 L STT UNITED James Reid Johnson, New London, Conn.

Application January 15, 1941, Serial No. 374,424

8 Claims.

My invention relates to the art of making comfortables, quilts and the like embodying, preferably, a more or less loose bat or other filling, inclosed between textile sheets and optionally` quilted.

For convenience I Will hereafter refer to the sheathing or bag-like cover as a casing, and to the lling or interior padding as a bat.

Objects of my invention are directed particularly to means for producing a continuous casing of two textile sheets, edge sewed to each other, with inner seams, and to inserting the bat therein; to means for making the operation of forming the casing and inserting the bat therein continuous and concurrent; to means for making 'the underside element of the casing carry forward upon one side the filling and then to be reversed and united with the other side of the casing; to means for uniting the two sides of the casing with their wrong sides out; to means for reversing or turning the casing right side out; to means for simultaneously with the reversal of the casing inserting the bat therein; to means for eliminating inequalities in the bat after insertion in the casing; to means for eliminating the formation of wrinkles and irregularities in the casing; to means for drawing forward the bat-filled casing, optionally quilting it and arranging it as a continuous strip in convenient form for further operations; and to the other novel features hereinafter pointed out.

In the prior art the two sides of the casing have been fed forward right side out with the bat between them, and have then been edge sewed together with outer seams, the strip thus formed being fed forward and cut into appropriate lengths for forming quilts, comfortables and the like, the raw edges being subsequently bound with tape.

In this process there is more or less difficulty in satisfactorily positioning and holding the bat between the two sheets of the casing before and at the time when the edge sewing is done; and though an operative withvdeft fingers can overcome this objection to some extent while the materials are approaching the needles, yet that requires constant attention, and is likely to result in irregular and unsightly closing of the same and in more or less of the bat showing outside of a seam or being pushed too far inside from a seam, while it also results in open edge losses and the formation of an outside seam on each edge of the closed casing and bat. By the use of my improved means the outside edge seams are eliminated and the hat is automatically fed into the casing as formed and evenly distributed therein, without exception at all on the part of the operative.

In the drawings, in all of the figures of which similar parts are referred to by similar reference numerals,

Fig. 1 is a plan view partly broken away to save space;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal, sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, the principal View being broken off at the left hand end;

Fig. 3 is a continuation of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the main driving mechanism, taken as on line 4 4 of Fig. 1 looking up;

Fig. 5 is a plan View, on the scale of Fig. 4, showing the right hand portion of the driving mechanism of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a perspective View, on anl enlarged scale, of the fabric reverser;

Fig. 7 is a front view, on the same scale, partly in section, oi the loop of the reverser;

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view, on the same scale, on the line 8-8 of Fig. 2, looking to the g right, illustrating the turning inside out of the tube of sewed fabric by the reverser, and the position of the bat or lling therein;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale of the sewing mechanism, diagrammatically illustrated, and the reversing and filling mechanism in operation, and partly broken away;

Fig. 10 is a longitudinal, sectional detail, also on an enlarged scale, taken as on line llll0 of Fig. 1 looking up;

Fig. 11 shows in plan portions of the reversing mechanism on one side of the machine;

Fig. 12 is a detail of the outside-seam feeding rollers on one side of the machine taken on the line |2--I2 of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a cross sectional view on an enlarged scale, medially broken away and taken on line |3-|3 oi Fig. 1 looking to the left, of the casing smoothing mechanism;

Fig. 14 is a corresponding plan view;

Figs. 15 and 16 are end views of the same; and

Fig. 17 is a plan view, on a comparatively reduced scale, showing the operation of the upper smoothing-roller on the casing.

The apparatus, which is held in proper assembly as by a, suitable frame l, has mounted in it a main driving shaft 2, extending across the machine, carrying a pulley 3 driven by a belt 4, receiving power from a Source not shown, shaft 2 runs entirely across the machine and carries at one end a. pulley 5, which through cross-belt 6 drives pulley 1 on shaft 8, which also runs across the machine, carrying two sprockets 9, 9, meshing with respective chains I8, I8, and sprockets II, Il on shaft I2 which carries feed roller I3, the rotation of which draws forward the fabric I4 carrying upon its upper, but reversed, face, the filling or bat I5. These sprockets and chains are the same on both sides of the machine. The shaft 8 also carries a spur gear I6 meshing with gear I1 on shaft I8 journalled in the side of the frame, which shaft carries also sprocket wheel I9 which through chain 28 and sprocket wheel 2| turns shaft 22, carrying roller 23 to feed the fabric forward and around roller 24 to rollers 25, 25 on shaft 26 extending across the machine and which is driven by gears 21, 28 and by gear 29 on shaft I8; and shaft 26 also carries toward each end a keyway 86, a gear 38 having a spline 88 sliding in the keyway, the gears 38, 38 meshing with gears 3|, 3| on shafts 32, 32 carrying rollers 33, 33 having a surface movement of the same rate as that of rollers 25, 25. Thus a pair of short-feed rollers are provided to engage the two layers of fabric on each of their edges and to draw the fabrics forward, the upper one around another roller 35 from a source of continuous supply.

Preferably the shaft 32 of each roller 33 is journalled in a bearing carried by lever arm 31 swinging on a pivot 38 carried by a sliding carriage as hereinafter explained, a suitable counterweight 48 being preferably employed to yieldably press the roller 33, which may be knurled, to duty.

The maintenance of a proper tension in fabric I4 is assisted by a roller 4I, carried by swinging arms 42, 42, and held to duty against the fabric by a spring or springs 43 extending between the swinging arms and the frame of the machine.

It is desirable to have the machine adjustable for variations in the width of the fabrics being operated upon, and for other details of operation; and for that purpose I provide at each side of the machine a plate 50 which is adapted to slide laterally upon guides 56, 56 carried by the frame. Each plate 50 carries a sewing machine 49, which is only shown diagrammatically in the drawings, as a conventional and well known type of sewing machine may be used. Each sewing machine may be driven through a belt 46 running on a broadfaced pulley 45 carried by shaft 2, and turning a pulley 41 which actuates the sewing machine through conventional mechanism, not shown, this construction being the same for each sewing machine. Each sewing machine is firmly attached to its plate 58, for instance as by a threaded stud I passing through the Plate and clamped as by a wing nut 52.

Spindles 53, 53, journalled in the frame are provided with crank arms 54, 54 by which they may be rotated. Each spindle is threaded through a bearing 55 on a plate 58, so that each plate 58 may be drawn toward the other, by turning the crank in one direction, or moved apart by turning the crank in the other direction. Cross bars 51, 58, attached to the frame I, extend across the machine, and carry rods 59, 59 and 68, 68 each of which at one end is attached to a cross bar and extends longitudinally of the machine. The other ends of rods 59, 59 carry a tube 6I, and the corresponding ends of rods 38, 68 carry another tube 62. Wire loops 63, 63 have parallel arms adapted to enter and slide into tubes 6I, 62 at each of their ends; and each of these loops 63 has an arm 64 extending from it and attached to a sliding plate 58; so that when the plates 58 are moved toward each other the loops 63 will telescope into the tubes 6I, 62 while the loops will be drawn outward by the reverse movement of the plate 58. This portion of the apparatus I call a reverser; and it is obvious that it may be spread or contracted laterally so as to be adjusted readily to the width of the material passing through the machine.

After the tube of fabric has received the filler or bat it is desirable to quilt it so as to hold the parts permanently in proper relation. But before the quilting is done the tube should be stretched and smoothed so as to eliminate wrinkles and similar irregularities; and for that purpose I employ rollers, such as those shown in Figs. 13 to 17 inclusive, which I will now describe.

A shaft 66, journalled in the frame I, is driven by a belt 61 and pulley 68, and through pulley 69 and belt 18, pulley 1I fixed on shaft 12, gear 13 and gear 14 turns shaft 15 in a direction reverse to the movement of the textile tube. This shaft 15 has raised threads of opposed pitches 16, 11 on it on opposite sides of its middle, the action of the threads turning reversely against the movement of the filled fabric tube tending to stretch the fabric laterally so as to eliminate wrinkles and puckers.

The other end of shaft 15 carries a gear 18 meshing with a gear 19 on the shaft-roller 88 of another roller journalled in the frame. This shaft-roller 88 has raised threads 8|, 82 similar to those on the roller of shaft 15, but pitched reversely to them, so that the action of the threads when the rollers are turned is to stretch the casing laterally.

A roller 84 acts to keep the tube smooth, as it passes to the bank of sewing machines 85, 85, indicated diagrammatically as they are conventional. These sewing machines may receive their motive power from a suitable source, as through shaft 66.

Beyond the sewing machines a pair of rollers 81, 88 are mounted in the frame being driven optionally from shaft 66 through pulley 89, belt 98, pulley 9| on the shaft of the roller 81 so that these rollers operate to draw the quilted, filled tube forward, taking up any slack that may have preceded them. From rollers 81, 88 the quilted work may be carried past an idler 94, or otherwise led off for further treatment.

The operation of the machine is as follows:

The edge-sewing machines and the reverser having, by means of a crank handle 54, been adjusted properly to the width of the material upon which they are to operate, the fabric I4 is led from a source of continuous supply, along a suitable table as 95, the bat I5 being fed down onto the fabric, from a continuous sourceof supply, as a roll 96 or other suitable source, and traveling with the fabric to the end of table and roller I3. From that point the fabric I4 passes down. past the tension roller 4| around rollers 23 and 24 to sewing machine 49, where it will arrive wrong side down. At the same time fabric 34 is brought from a source of continuous supply around feed roller 35 and forward to the sewing machines 49, 49 where it will arrive wrong side up. The two strips of fabric are then drawn forward. by feeds of: the machinesY and bythe rollers 25, and 33,. 33', the rollers' 33, 33 engaging the seamed edges with yielding' pressure to avoid damaging the fabrics. The tube thus formed is carried around and turned back into the reverser loop and drawn backward, as by rollers 31, 88. Coincidentally with the reversing or turning outside in of the fabric tube, the bat will be fed, by the travel of fabric I 4, into the mouth of the tube, and carried along with it as it travels, passing the smoothing rollers 15, 8l, the keeper roller 84, and to the sewing machines 85, 85 where itwill be quilted, lengthwise, and then drawn forward by the feed rollers 81, 88, from whence it may travel, in a continuous, quilted strip to a suitable place for further treatment, such, for instance, as cutting into appropriate lengths and end binding of the lengths.

It will be seen that by the use of my invention a long, continuous casing may be made from two strips of textile material sewed together ori their edges with an outside seam. The sewed casing then being turned inside out, and simultaneously and continuously receiving a bat fed to and drawn into the casing by the movement of its materials, the filled casing being then smoothed, and optionally quilted, and carried forward for further treatment. It will also be noted that the machine is readily adjustable for use with varying widths of fabric; and that its continuous automatic operation may proceed with considerable speed so long as it is not so rapid as to injure the materials employed. Obviously the bat may be produced continuously, by conventional means, and be fed to and into the casing as the turning outside in of the casing progresses. Thus, within practical limit of length of the textile strips the operation of forming the casing, reversing it, inserting the bat, smoothing the casing and optionally quilting it may be carried out continuously and without interruption.

Obviously the long, filled casing may afterwards be cut into such lengths as may be appropriate for the purposes for which it is intended; the end edges of the sections being bound in any suitable manner,

Obviously, too, the lled tube may be cut into sections before being quilted longitudinally, after which the sections may be quilted in selected designs by conventional quilting apparatus.

This method saves labor, increases the speed of output, insures its uniformity, and reduces the cost of manufacture.

To avoid prolixity in the claims I have referred to the lower textile sheet I4 as the bottom sheet, the upper sheet 34 as the top sheet, and the filling or bat I5 as sheet bat.

The apparatus is comparatively simple and is not easily thrown out of proper operation; and it can be operated by comparatively unskilled labor and without endangering the hands of an operative in tucking in the edges of the bat and feeding the casing and bat forward for edge sewmg.

I wish it to be understood that the mechanism which I have illustrated and described is a typical but not an exclusive embodiment of my invention, as variations in construction may be introduced, as by the use of equivalents, without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of my claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. In mechanism for manufacturing comfortables, quilts. and the like, theV combination of three separate sourcesof automatic, continuous supply of textile top sheet, bottom sheet and sheet bat, respectively, automatic means for causing sheet bat to be deposited on the wrong face of the bottom sheet to travel with it preliminarily, automatic means for causing said bottom sheet to be deflected away from the sheet bat and then looped back with its faces reversed, automatic means for bringing the outside edges of the top and bottom sheets into registration with each other, automatic means for sewing the registering edges with outside seams forming a long, fiat tube, automatic means for turning the tube right side out, retracting it and simultaneously drawing the sheet bat into it, automatic means for smoothing the bat filled tube laterally each way from its longitudinal center, the top and bottom sheets, sheet bat and tube all moving at a uniform and continuous rate of speed, lwhereby a long, flat bat-filled, smoothed tube with inside edge seams is produced automatically and continuously.

2. In mechanism for manufacturing comfortables, quilts and the like, the combination of three separate sources of automatic, continuous supply of textile top sheet, bottom sheet and sheet bat, respectively, automatic means for causing sheet bat to be deposited on the wrong face of the bottom sheet to travel with it preliminarily, automatic means for causing said bottom sheet to be deflected away from the sheet bat and then looped back with its faces reversed, automatic means for bringing the outside edges of the top and bottom sheets into registration with each other, automatic means for sewing the registering edges with outside seams forming a long, flat tube, automatic means for turning the tube right side out, retracting it and simultaneously drawing the sheet bat into it, automatic means embodying rollers disposed transversely of the tube and provided with raised, spiral threads extending outwardly in opposed directions from their middles toward their ends, and means for turning such rollers reversely to the travel of the tube, for smoothing the bat filled tube laterally each way from its longitudinal center, the top and bottom sheets, sheet bat and tube all moving at a uniform and continuous rate of speed, whereby a long, flat, bat-filled, smoothed tube with inside edge seams is produced automatically and continuously;

3. In mechanism for manufacturing comfortables, quilts and the like, the combination of three separate sources of automatic, continuous supply of textile top she'et, bottom sheet and sheet bat, respectively, automatic means for causing sheet bat to be deposited on the wrong face of the bottom sheet to travel with it preliminarily, automatic means for causing said bottom sheet to be deflected away from the sheet bat and then looped back with its faces reversed, automatic means for bringing the outside edges of the top and bottom sheets into registration with each other, automatic means for sewing the registering edges with outside seams forming a long, flat tube, automatic means for turning the tube right side out, a single common means for adjusting the relative positions of the sewing means and the width of the reversing means, means for retracting the tube and simultaneously drawing the sheet bat into it, automatic means for smoothing the bat filled tube laterally each way from its longitudinal center, the top and bottom sheets, sheet bat and tube all moving at a 'sheet bat, respectively,

uniform and continuous rate of speed, whereby a long, flat bat-lled, smoothed tube with inside edge seams is produced automatically and continuously.

4. In mechanism for manufacturing comfortables, quilts and the like, the combination of three separate sources of automatic, continuous supply of textile top sheet, bottom sheet and automatic means for causing sheet bat to be deposited on the wrong face of the bottom sheet to travel with it preliminarily, automatic means for causing said bottom sheet to be deflected away from the sheet bat and then looped back with its faces reversed, automatic means for bringing the outside edges of the top and bottom sheets into registration with each other, automatic means for sewing the registering edges with outside seams forming a long, at tube, automatic means expansible and contractible for turning the tube right side out, retracting it and simultaneously drawing the sheet bat into it, automatic means for smoothing the bat filled tube laterally each way from its longitudinal center, the top and bottom sheets, sheet bat and tube all moving at a uniform and continuous rate of speed, whereby a long, flat, bat-lled, smoothed tube with inside edge seams is produced automatically and continuously.

5. In mechanism for manufacturing comfortables, quilts and the like, the combination of three separate sources of automatic, continuous supply of textile top sheet, bottom sheet and sheet bat, respectively, automatic means for causing sheet bat to be deposited n the wrong face of the bottom sheet to travel with it preliminarily, automatic means for causing said bottom sheet to be deflected away from the sheet bat, means for tensioning the bottom sheet, means for looping it back with its faces reversed, automatic means for bringing the outside edges of the top and bottom sheets into registration with each other, automatic means for sewing the registering edges with outside seams forming a long, flat tube, automatic means for turning the tube right side out, retracting it and simultaneously drawing the sheet bat into it, automatic means for smoothing the bat filled tube laterally each way from its longitudinal center, the top and bottom sheets, sheet bat and tube all moving at a uniform and continuous rate of speed, whereby a long, flat, bat-filled, smoothed tube with inside edge seams is produced automatically and continuously.

6. In mechanism for manufacturing comfortables, quilts and the like, the combination of three separate sources of automatic, continuous supply of textile top sheet, bottom sheet and sheet bat, respectively, automatic means for causing sheet bat to be deposited on the wrong face of the bottom sheet to travel with it preliminarily, automatic means for causing said bottom sheet to be deected away from the sheet bat and then looped back with its faces reversed, automatic means for bringing the outside edges of the top and bottom sheets into registration with each other, automatic means for sewing the registering edges with outside seams forming a long, flat tube, yielding edge engaging and feeding means, automatic means for turning the tube right side out, retracting it and simultaneously drawing the sheet bat into it, automatic means for smoothing the bat filled tube laterally each way from its longitudinal center, the top and bottom sheets, sheet bat and tube all moving at a uniform and continuous rate of speed, whereby a long, flat bat-filled, smoothed tube with inside edge seams is produced automatically and continuously.

7. In mechanism for manufacturing comfortables, quilts and the like the combination of automatic means for drawing forward a bottom sheet wrong side up with a sheet bat upon it, separating the sheet and bat, and turning the sheet over right'side up, automatic means for superimposing a top sheet upon the bottom sheet right side down, automatic means for joining the outside edges of the sheets with outside seams to form a tube wrong side out, automatic tube reversing means, and bat inserting means, whereby the bottom sheet is caused to carry on its wrong side the bat, preliminarily, and then become part of a right side out tube to receive the bat, thus avoiding contact between the right faces of the tube and the bat, the operation being continuous indefinitely.

8. In mechanism for manufacturing comfortables, quilts and the like the combination with opposite edge sewing machines and a tube reverser of common, unitary means for moving the sewing machines laterally toward or away from each other and simultaneously contracting and expanding the reverser, whereby the mechanism may be readily adjusted to operate on varying widths of goods.

JAMES REID JOHNSON. 

